All Castled out … and on our way

We arrived back in Vienna on Monday afternoon. There was something comforting about being back in a city we had already spent time in. We knew the currency, knew how to use the transit ticket machines and knew our way to our hotel! We let ourselves into the Pension Sacher with the key Claudia had given us when we left Vienna nearly three weeks ago.

Interesting fact about the Pension Sacher; the Sacher Torte, which is a chocolate concoction found in all bakeries, here in Vienna, was actually created by the first generation Sacher that opened the original Sacher hotel! We feel just a little bit famous, now, knowing that we are hob knobbing with a relative of the creator of this Viennese dessert!

Once situated, we lost no time and headed to the Kunsthistorich Museum, which houses a collection of Renaissances art that can compete with the Louvre. We had only two hours, so we really did not do it justice, but having at least a taste, was worth the price of admission. There were several artists with their easels and palettes, copying the great masters just like you see at the Louvre.

Without Doug and Devora to guide us to the perfect restaurant, we were a bit lost, but muddled our way through (much less systematically I might add) and managed to find a popular Greek restaurant, which did the trick. We wandered a bit out of the tourist district and like to think we found a local restaurant with local people. We can pretend anyway!

Our last day was spent at the Schonbrunn Palace, which is a few subway stops from our hotel. When we arrived, there was a line around the block leading to the ticket counter! To add to our chagrin, there was a menu of options for tickets that took a rocket scientist to figure out. We decided to just go for the full meal deal, hoping it would be worth it. The residences were very impressive, but we soon realized that the rest was fairly accessible without a ticket … oh well. Our last day and our last castle. I for one, can safely say, I am castled out!

We hit the sack early (I am purposely skipping our dinner choice as D & D would have been appalled, and frankly they would have been right!), since our wake up call was for 3:45 am. We managed to sleep fairly well, and catch our 4:30 bus to the airport from SwedenPlatz (had to get at least one platz in this post!), just a few blocks from our hotel.

A somewhat disturbing experience at the very end of our stay in Vienna, was a brawl that took place at a gas station just in front of the bus stop as we boarded the bus to the airport. A group of young men, congregated there and started, what looked initially to be, a play fight of sorts. Within a couple of minutes there were more than a couple of guys and the fight took a more serious turn. Our bus driver called the police as well as apparently a few other bystandars, and as our bus left the station, three police cars arrived to break up the fight. So Vienna is not a prim and proper as it may seem from the centre of the tourist district!

We are now safely on our flight, with only 14 hours to endure in these outrageously cramped accommodations, before arriving home to our topsy-turvy apartment.

More on that in the coming days!

Hundertwasser is to Vienna, what Gaudi is to Barcelona

Works by Friedensreich Hundertwasser

In 1975 (I think), I went to a traveling exhibit of the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser with my mom and my aunty Irene, in Tel Aviv. We were all taken by his work and the awe that I felt then, never dissapated, even though I had never had the chance again to see his work in person. We all had a copy of the book from the exhibit and mom had bought a couple of other things in the gift shop, so I had reminders, around the house so to speak all these years.

On Tuesday as I prepared for our flight to Vienna, I Googled to find some things to do on our first day. One of the first items that came up in my search was an exhibit at the Museum Hundertwasser. "Wow", I thought. A chance to see another exhibit of his work in a museum that he designed ... what could be better than that!

And I was not disappointed. Not only was I able to see hundreds of his paintings/silk screens and woodblock prints, but I also learned that he was a stamp designer, and architect and a visionary ecologist. I immediately thought about Gaudi's architectural wonders in Barcelona and thought about how similar these two men were in their vision for an organic world. And maybe too, the fact that both have been misunderstood.

You can read about his biography here, his manifestos and texts here, and is view of the world here.

Hundertwasser House

Hundertwasser died in 2000, before actualizing all of his dreams for a better world, but he managed to leave behind ideas that are in the forefront in today's green architecture movement. I enjoyed reacquainting myself with this amazing human being and his inspiring paintings and view of the world.

Waldspirale (wooded spiral in english) which is colorfully painted with earth tones, is located in Darmstadt, Germany and was built in the 90's. It features 105 units, a green roof, an inner courtyard and playground, small artificial lake, 1000 unique windows and unique handles on every door.

Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Swedenplatzstrassefartgasse?

OK —I made that up — but not by much. It seems that every street name in Vienna has at least 20 characters. And they are impossible to pronounce or remember. All of the tourist city maps are unreadable. Why? Well, in my opinion, it is because it is a physical impossibility to fit all of these incredibly long street names onto a small map. Then add to that, the quirky (giggle inducing) word endings like Gasse and Fhart and Platz, and you simply can't concentrate long enough to find your way.

It has been a laugh fest since Doug and Devora arrived yesterday morning. We are quickly developing a language of our own consisting of all of the incredibly funny parts of words we see on the maps we can't read, and the street signs we can't pronounce. Add a beer or two to the mix and the hilarity escalates dramatically.

Between fits of laughter, we continue to move forward with our itinerary. Here are the highlights from Saturday.

Hanging out at the the local flea market

Bright and early Saturday morning we hit the weekly flea and food market, several blocks away from our apartments at Pension Sacher. We dined on local delicacies, sipped on lattes and perused the hundreds of stalls in the flea market. Doug, a flea market afficianado found and purchased a wonderful hand coloured print of the skyline of Vienna circa 1550, to add to his ever growing collection. The rest of us just marvelled at the people watching opportunities.

Melk

We took the subway to the train station and boarded a train for the nearby town of Melk, home to the Melk Abbey. We hiked up the hill to the Abbey and walked through the exhibits with Doug as our guide, reading from his guide book.

Melk Abbey details

From there we hoofed it down the hill and through the town to the ferry dock where we just managed to catch the last ferry of the day for a ride down the Danube, via Spitz, to the town of Krems, with views of vineyards  and churches along the way.

Ferry ride to Krems

Us taking a nap on the ferry captured by Devora :)

After a quick tour through Krems, we boarded the return train for Vienna, with pizza and a kilo of apricots in hand, for a picnic on the return trip. We arrived back in Vienna with little time to spare. A quick freshening up, and a hop on the subway to catch the opening concert of Gabi and Sophie's choir tour.

When we entered the Church one minute before the performance began, we were thrilled to see that it was standing room only! We managed to find seating just as the concert began. The performance was superb, and I can report that parents and godparents were gushing with pride!

We stopped for gelato on route back to the apartment, where our full day of activities ended with the compulsory pastry fix, and some final laughs. Not bad for day three!

As you can see we are having a Gasse and Platzing at every turn!

What a difference a day makes

Our exit from Vancouver was a bit tense with time running out on so many last minute details. We had planned on a relaxed walk to the Canada line with our economically packed bags. That was not to be, with the internet not cooperating and hence all of the other last minute items, not accomplished until after the last minute!

Vancouver cabs came to the rescue and delivered us in good time to the Airport. Once we were comfortably sitting in the cab, the tenseness of the proceeding hours seemed to wash away, and by the time we boarded our Air Berlin flight to Dusseldorf, we were "on our way" in so many ways.

"Flying is not walking" as my dad always said. The seats are cramped, inflight entertainment is not what it used to be, and the food is far from gourmet — but for us, it was a bit of heaven (literally!). 14 hours without stressing about house packing, trip planning, airline ticket booking, and rental car comparisons. Halleluiah!

A local bus from the Airport dropped us off minutes away from the centrally located Pension Sacher Apartments, where we will be staying for the next few days. Claudia, the owner, greeted us warmly with a tour of the apartment and instructions on how to use the kitchen amenities, the TV and internet. What can I say? The apartment is perfect. We have a balcony facing the square, allowing us a peak at life in Vienna from the comfort of our small dining table and chairs. Full kitchenette, beautiful bathroom and even a washing machine for god sakes! For the first hour, we just walked around the apartment in a daze repeating under our breath, how perfect it was!

We attempted to do a bit of walking this afternoon, but lack of sleep and the euphoria from lack of stress, sent us home for a nap almost immediately. We were up at dinner time refreshed and ready to get to know our new surroundings. We happened on a local restaurant called Gast Haus Poschl, that was bursting with local people. We were seated opposite the busy kitchen and marveled at the skill of the chef and his helpers, preparing plate after plate of mouth watering delights. Marc ordered a beer whose name sounded like "Tvika", so we knew we would remember it. I think the correct name is Tzvikl. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere could not have been more perfect for our first night in Vienna.

Don't worry, I am not planning on boring you with the details of every hotel room, beer name and wine choice. Just wanted to set the stage for the first day of what promises to be a great trip. And I guess the first day of the rest of our lives!

The very relaxed wandering Broudos, signing off, from Pension Sacher, Vienna